“Katniss Everdeen, heroine of The Hunger Games, captured a nation with just two words: “I volunteer.” That may be because it remains a largely novel concept to most folks, if a new report is any indication. A scant 10 per cent of Canada’s volunteers accounted for more than half of all hours given to non-profit and charitable organizations in 2010, according to data released Monday by Statistics Canada. In other words, even as 47 per cent of Canadians age 15 and older volunteered at some point during the year, the majority of time came from a small proportion of citizens.”

“Jean Chretien is still promoting the idea of Liberals and New Democrats merging into one federal party, despite strong objections to the NDP’s approach to Quebec independence. The former Liberal prime minister tells The Canadian Press a merger would bring stability to federal politics.”

“No one was murdered in El Salvador on Saturday, officials said, in what was the first homicide-free day in nearly three years for the Central American country plagued by violent drug gangs. “After years when the number of murders reached alarming levels of up to 18 per day, we saw not one homicide in the country,” President Mauricio Funes said in a statement released on Sunday. The murder-free day was the first recorded since leftist Funes took office in June 2009.”

“These women joined different branches of the military but they share a common experience: Each received the psychiatric diagnosis and military discharge after reporting a sexual assault. CNN has interviewed women in all branches of the armed forces, including the Coast Guard, who tell stories that follow a similar pattern — a sexual assault, a command dismissive of the allegations and a psychiatric discharge. Despite the Defense Department’s “zero tolerance” policy, there were 3,191 military sexual assaults reported in 2011. Given that most sexual assaults are not reported, the Pentagon estimates the actual number was probably closer to 19,000.”

“The man accused of killing 77 people in a bomb-and-gun rampage in Norway last summer said his actions were justified to save the country from multicultural forces as he went on trial Monday. Anders Behring Breivik raised his arm in a fascist-style salute — a symbol of “strength, power and defiance against Marxist tyrants,” to quote the 1,500-page manifesto attributed to him — as soon as his handcuffs were removed in court Monday. “I acknowledge the acts but do not plead guilty,” he told the court.”

“French fries sold at major fast-food chains in Canada contain more than double the amount of salt of those sold at U.S. locations, according to a new international study that found salt levels in fast foods varied significantly in different countries. “Governments setting and enforcing salt targets for industry would provide a level playing field, and no company could gain a commercial advantage by using high levels of salt.” That’s why the federal government should consider the findings of the study and revisit its sodium-reduction strategy to require reformulation, said Campbell.”

So unhealthy yet.. so delicious, lol. But I am happy to say I don’t eat at fast food chains really.

“A study showing that South Korean- and Indian-born women in Canada have an unusually high proportion of boys born as second babies is shining a spotlight on the issue of sex selection through abortion. The study, published Monday in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, looked at all non-multiple births in Ontario between the years 2002 and 2007, which totalled 766,688. “Our findings raise the possibility that couples originating from India may be more likely than Canadian-born couples to use prenatal sex determination and terminate a second or subsequent pregnancy if the fetus is female,” says the study, which was led by Dr. Joel Ray, a physician at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto.”

“Toronto Public Health has confirmed that a person in the city is being treated for rabies. It is the first case of human rabies in Toronto since 1931 and the first in the province since 1967. Human rabies cases in Canada are very rare. There have only been three in the last 12 years: one in Quebec in 2000, one in British Columbia in 2003 and one in Alberta in 2007.”

“In news that probably won’t surprise parents of text-obsessed teenagers, Canadians sent an average of almost 2,500 SMS messages every second last year, for a total of about 78 billion. That figure was up almost 40 per cent from 2010, when the texting tally hit 56.4 billion messages.”

“Facebook snapped up photo-sharing app Instagram last week for $1 billion, but the social network wasn’t the only one interested in purchasing the photo-filtering wonder app. Twitter “expressed interest” in purchasing Instagram just a few months ago, according to the New York Times.”

“Facebook values Instagram at $1-billion and LinkedIn has a market cap of $10-billion. Twitter claims it is worth $8-billion. So where does that leave the new kid on the block Pinterest? Well, it looks like you can pin $7.7-billion on your Pinterest board. Pinterest is important because the traffic is growing and statistics are impressive. It is known for its magazine-quality images. Pinterest is to artful images what Twitter is to artful words. What’s more, Pinterest appeals to college-educated females between the ages of 25 to 44. A sweet demographic known for its spending decisions and habits.”

“Thanks to the internet and social media, reviews of a business or restaurant are just a click away. But how many of them are fake? Business owner Lauren Bonnett and others, feel consumers should be skeptical when reading online reviews. Many websites allow you to rate a business. Some have staff and automated filters designed to catch fake or malicious reviews. But how easy is it for one to get through? Yelp, Tripadvisor, urbanspoon, google places and yellow pages. Of the 100 fake reviews, only 5 were caught and filtered out and only by Yelp, but the website did allow others through.”

I wrote 25 of those fake reviews for this story. ;) Always take reviews with a grain of salt! I assure you all of the reviews I put on this blog are real though, lol.

“Edmonton gamer Teace Snyder has co-written a book in defence of video games with, of all people, his mom. Mother and son figured it was time to balance out the misinformation and fear mongering that has led to “gamer shame” — gamers feeling ashamed for playing video games or spending time gaming. Snyder and other gamers have long known there’s more to video games than entertainment, he says, but he’s relieved and happy to see that verified by his mother’s research and the research of others. For example: video games are given to burn victims to reduce their pain because their attention is distracted; games are prescribed for relaxation; games are used to teach diabetic children what to eat; and games are used to train soldiers for combat. There’s also gamefication — using the principles of gaming to raise money for community projects.”

“A regional bank in central Japan will become the country’s first financial institution to adopt automated teller machines that will identify users by their palms. Under the system, developed by Fujitsu Ltd., users will be able to prove who they are simply by scanning their hands and entering a PIN and date of birth, the bank said. Demand for a system that does not require a cash card or a passbook increased after the earthquake-tsunami disaster that ravaged northeast Japan last March in which many people lost personal possessions and were left without the means to get at their money.”

Cool. (Interesting why the demand for such a system came from after the tsunami).

“By now you have probably seen the footage of long-deceased rapper Tupac Shakur performing at Coachella. Whether or not you thought you thought it was creepy, the technology behind the holographic resurrection is actually pretty cool. The blend of previously recorded live footage and CGI was created by Digital Domain — James Cameron’s visual effects company that was also responsible for the ersatz Brad Pitt in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button — under the supervision of Dr. Dre.”

“A growing number of independent book publishers say that by tying the hands of Apple and the major publishers, the United States will enable Amazon to mow down competition in a price war. The U.S. Department of Justice filed a lawsuit last week accusing Apple and the country’s five major book publishers of colluding to raise prices that consumers pay for electronic books (e-books). Three of the five publishers have already settled, largely by agreeing not to prevent retailers from discounting titles. But the DOJ got it wrong, say the indies. According to them, Amazon, not Apple is a bigger threat to competition. “I hope this lawsuit fails,” said Mark Coker, founder of Smashwords, an e-book publishing and distributing company. Randall White, chief executive of Educational Development Corp. (EDC), told The New York Times: “Amazon is squeezing everyone out of business” and he called the company a ‘predator.'”

“The Wall Street Journal recently published an article on how IT departments are coping these days with the biggest threat to data security — namely, employees in the IT department. That the “enemy within” is the biggest threat to an enterprise is nothing new, but buried in the article was something that struck me as, well, Orwellian. The WSJ reports that some organizations “are even using new technology to look at the language of their IT staff’s emails to determine whether their behavior or mind-set has changed.””

“As far as awards go, the Pulitzer Prizes are the traditional standard of journalistic excellence. But this year’s winners, just announced, show that the judges continue to have an eye for new sources of quality journalism. While newspapers like The Philadelphia Inquirer and The New York Times celebrate their wins on Monday, online-native sites Politico and the Huffington Post are also breaking out the bubbly… This year, Pulitzer officials note that digital content “played a role in seven winning entries… Digital content was a particular emphasis in the breaking news category this year, with the call for entries that emphasize speed and real-time reporting.”

“What do you do when negotiations with the cast of a seasoned sitcom stall? Well, if you’re the producers of The Office, you apparently think about replacing the actors wholesale. That’s right: According to Deadline, series executive producer Greg Daniels is debating making the next season of The Office a reboot, bringing in a slew of different characters to replace stalwarts John Krasinski, Jenna Fischer, Mindy Kaling, and B.J. Novak—not to mention the potentially farm-bound Rainn Wilson—whose contracts expire at the end of this spring.”

Orrrr just end it because replacing the actors would make The Office not The Office anymore.

“”The Simpsons” used its blackboard opening sequence Sunday to reveal that Springfield is located… somewhere far from you. “The true location of Springfield is in any state but yours,” Bart wrote on the blackboard in the opening of Sunday’s “Beware My Cheating Bart” episode. That followed the beginning of the opening sequence, which read ‘The Simpsons Now Entering Oregon.'”

Seems silly now. They’re just trying to backtrack because they didn’t make a whole special promotion out of the revelation.

“A sleepy Air Canada pilot first mistook the planet Venus for an aircraft, and then sent his airliner diving toward the Atlantic to prevent an imaginary collision with another plane, an official report said on Monday.”

“Millions will say goodbye to a blog this week that since 2008 has shone the spotlight on some of life’s simple joys. On April 19, award-winning blogger Neil Pasricha will post his final entry on 1000awesomethings.com, a “time-ticking countdown of 1000 awesome things.” The blog began in June 2008, a time of darkness for the writer as he struggled with a failing marriage and a suicide attempt by his close friend. Each day Pasricha would post a reminder of the good things in life – small pleasures that are often overlooked, thought about but never written down.”

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ABOUT LINDA

My name is Linda Hoang and I am a social media/communications specialist based in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. I blog about food, social media, and Edmonton events. Thank you for visiting! For inquiries, contact hoang.t.linda@gmail.com